An apparatus that denests a stack of containers and methods of separating a stack of containers and making the apparatus are disclosed. The apparatus includes a denester and a counting device. The denester is configured to separate a first stack of at least 2 containers into a plurality of second stacks of containers. Each of the second stacks includes an exact number of containers, the exact number being a positive integer less than m. The counting device is configured to count the exact number of containers in the first stack. The method of separating containers includes counting an exact number of containers in a first stack of m containers using the counting device, and separating the exact number of containers from the first stack using the denester.

A method for providing nestable cones to a plant tray that includes recesses. For quickly and effectively carrying this out, use is made of a device, which comprises i) a head and ii) a support surface for a stack of cones, wherein a first wall section of a first cone is engaged by the head and the remainder of the stack of cones is stopped by means of a stack stop, after which the engaged cone is released.

The present invention provides an automatic analysis device and an automatic specimen processing system having a component-rack supply mechanism that, in a state where a plurality of component racks each having a disposable component mounted thereon are stacked, separates only a component rack at the leading stage of the stack from the other component racks, and supplies the separated component rack to the automatic analysis device or the automatic specimen processing system. Specifically, the automatic analysis device and the automatic specimen processing system have a supply mechanism including a separation mechanism that, in a state where a plurality of component racks are stacked, separates only a component rack at the leading stage of the stack from the other component racks, where the separation mechanism includes a movable mechanism having a pair of downward-movement prevention members that can separate the leading stage from the second stage of the stacked component racks; and a correction mechanism having a pair of correction members that correct a positional deviation of the component racks in order to avoid an influence of the positional deviation of the stacked component racks.

A method for providing nestable cones to a plant tray that includes recesses. For quickly and effectively carrying this out, use is made of a device, which comprises i) a head and ii) a support surface for a stack of cones, wherein a first wall section of a first cone is engaged by the head and the remainder of the stack of cones is stopped by means of a stack stop, after which the engaged cone is released.

A singling unit for articles stacked in a nested configuration includes at least two stacks of articles stacked in a nested configuration, an extractor group to extract single articles from each stack, and a conveyor to receive the articles singled by the extractor group and to transport them along an advance direction arranged in at least one row substantially parallel to the advance direction. The extractor group is configured to deposit on the conveyor the articles extracted from the stacks in a number of rows smaller than the number of the stacks.

A system for denesting associated receptacles from a stack, such as a stack of trays, cups or other receptacles is provided, the system including: a pair of bottom supports for holding the stack of receptacles from the bottom of the stack, a first pair of cam discs for at least guiding the pair of bottom supports, a pair of side supports for supporting the stack of receptacles from the sides of the stack, a second pair of cam discs for at least guiding the pair of side supports, a pair of separators for separating a lowermost receptacle from the stack of receptacles and for guiding the lowermost receptable downwards away from the stack, a third pair of cam discs for at least guiding the pair of separators, and a pair of main drive shafts. A method for denesting a stack of receptacles is also provided.

The present disclosure provides a fries box-packing machine, relating to the technical field of food packaging. The fries box-packing machine includes a frame body, a box storage component, and a box-taking mechanism. The box-taking mechanism is arranged on the upper mounting plate, and the box-taking mechanism is configured to sequentially move the paper box of the box storage component below the upper mounting plate. The lifting mechanism of the box-taking mechanism of the fries box-packing machine provided by the present disclosure can elevate the rotating mounting frame, thereby adjusting the height of the suction cup assembly. This allows the suction cup assembly to move the paper box from the upper end of the upper mounting plate to the lower end of the upper mounting plate. When the suction cup assembly attaches to the paper box, the lifting mechanism separates the paper box from the box storage component.